Where her demons hide
by dontlookdown1
Summary: A short story based on the departure of Carla Connor, focused on her telling Michelle and their last few days together before she leaves for good. Possibly 3/4 chapters to follow.
1. Chapter 1

Hi. This is my first publication on this site, and with the upcoming departure of Alison King and Carla Connor I wanted my first piece to be about this scenario. I believe there are a variety of different endings that could have been selected for her exit, and I am not entirely sure what will be the end result of her leaving. This is a small story of something I would have personally like included, Carla and Michelle's friendship is one of the strongest and most interesting on the show ever in my opinion and whilst I am sure Coronation Street will do a leaving scene with these two, I wanted to attempt my own version which will definitely be longer and more detailed than anything that will be shown on screen. So I hope anyone who chooses to read this does enjoy it.

*This does not follow any storyline or spoilers, all ideas are just from my own imagination*

Alone, all alone in an eerily quiet space, it was dark with only a small dim light radiating from a tiny desk lamp, this is how she likes it though, although it gives her time to think about everything, all the demons inside her head, the struggles and trauma she has suffered throughout her life. Despite all of it, the attacks, near death experiences, suicide attempts, she felt more pained now than ever before. She had always told herself she didn't deserve a happy ending; that it didn't happen to people like her. She had tried, but never managed to succeed in finding it, all of her life she had been desperate to be loved, there may have been a cold front put on but behind her walls was a vulnerability and fear that not many ever got the opportunity to see. No matter how hard she tried there was always something that destroyed her happiness, normally one of her own acts and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't stop herself. After losing her first two loves, Paul and Liam she had believed she would never get another shot at happiness, the ordeal she endured at the hands of Tony Gordon had been torture for her, but nothing she didn't feel she deserved for some strange reason. She would then proceed to have disastrous relationships with the many men that followed but could never compare to Liam. If things had been different and she had been brave enough to admit her feelings sooner, maybe show some of that vulnerability her whole life could have followed a completely different path to the path of destruction she seemed to be following now.

Trevor, Frank and Peter were her next attempts at love and happiness, all of which failed, and caused her yet more pain and heartache. Just when she was giving up, she found Nick, a relationship that she herself, could not have ever imagined happening, he had never been her type, they were complete opposites just a few years previously, she had always wondered what Leanne had seen in him, she just presumed it was cash orientated but now she understands more, underneath the slightly arrogant business man persona is a normal guy, with a very caring side, he was extremely intelligent which was always an attractive quality to her, she needed someone who could compete with her mentally too. How could she have messed this one up so badly? Just one moment of stupidity and her entire life was in ruins once again. Maybe this is fate; just maybe this is how life is supposed to be, all alone for the rest of her days.

Her head pounded and she wiped her stinging eyes as she clicked away on her computer, pausing for a moment before pressing the confirm button on the airline website. It was done, she was out of here, enough was enough she needed to flee from the place that has slowly destroyed her, encouraged her demons to bring out the worst in her and allow her to destroy her life. As much as she loved Nick, it wasn't the thought of leaving him that broke her heart, it wasn't the family she had recently discovered, which she would have longed for a few years ago, and she now had a father once more, along with brothers and sisters, some of whom weren't or never had been to prison! But no, the one she would miss the most was the only person who had always been a part of her life, despite a rocky start they could not have been closer, and this was the only positive to come from all the heartbreak that they had suffered over the years, they had suffered together and built a relationship built on mutual pain and loss. She had always been there from then on, built up her business for her when she was unable to, and built her back up from being at rock bottom and being the voice of reason through every situation. You don't get many good people in life, but Michelle was definitely one of them, the thought of not being able to see her every day or share a glass of wine and a chat whenever she needed a pep talk made her question her decision to leave. She shook her head, Michelle was amazing but she couldn't stay here any longer. It was time to move on for good.

She couldn't face the pub at that moment so instead she retrieved her phone from her handbag and tapped away a text that would be sufficient enough to bring Michelle over so she could explain properly.

"Are you free at the min? Need a word, just at the factory if you can pop over xx"

A moment later the text tone startled Carla from her thoughts once again and she glanced at the screen.

"Give me 5 mins babe, just waiting for Sean to get in and start his shift, shall I bring wine? Xx"

Carla smiled, she knew her too well, and then it dawned on her that this was going to be much harder than she thought.

"You know the answer to that ;) See you soon love xx"

She grabbed her handbag again and searched inside for her makeup bag, realising she really needed to refresh her makeup before Michelle arrived, grabbing the compact mirror she looked at her reflection carefully, she looked tired and worn down, the stress of the past few days truly taking its toll on her now, the sleepless nights and long days.

As she finished applying the last lashings of mascara to her eyes, she grabbed her lipstick, quickly swiping it over her lips, rubbing them quickly to even out the product, she prayed that this would help her to look more like her usual self, a stronger Carla than she had been the past week, just at that moment she heard the creek of the factory door and the echo of heels walking across the factory floor, then she saw the silhouette of her best friend, wine bottle in hand appear. She sank into her chair and smiled as she walked into the office closing the door shut behind her.

"So come on, out with it, what's on your mind?" Michelle asked with a forced smile, she knew well enough that this was serious, and she just dreaded what was to come, she worried every day about her best friend.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

The story will really begin in this chapter; the first one was more of an introduction and to get into Carla's mindset at this time. I hope this chapter is an interesting read for anyone who wants to take a look. Thank you.

Carla hesitated for a moment, she had prepared herself to act like she didn't have any worries at this present moment and therefore gain just a few hours of normality with Michelle before she would drop the bombshell of moving upon her. The problem with having a best friend who knows you so well is that it is impossible to lie, they can see straight through the exterior you put up in an attempt to fool them, and Carla knew instantly that if she acted fine, Michelle would not buy it for a second, it was pointless, there was nothing else to do except tell her, openly and honestly.

"I didn't want to tell you just yet, but you know me too well don't ya"

"Carla, you are scaring me, what's wrong?" Michelle asked, as she carefully took a seat in the chair beside Carla, there was a crack in her voice, and Carla felt incredibly guilty for putting her friend through all that she had. Everything always got put onto Michelle, she was just so strong, she too had been through so much but she hadn't let it damage her the way in which Carla had, Carla only wished she could have been as strong as Michelle, she knew her life would be so much different if she could have been.

"I'm leaving Michelle, I can't stick around here any longer... It's slowly destroying me"

Michelle gave no response, her head dropping slightly, Carla knew this was to try and fight back her emotions, something Michelle did often, yet again trying to be strong through something that was obviously upsetting for her. Carla watched for a moment before slowly rising from her chair and stepping towards the chair Michelle was occupying, slowly crouching down to her level. She paused for a moment looking at her best friend before placing a couple of fingers underneath her chin and gently lifting her head slightly so she could look at her, the sight before her made Carla's heart ache, her best friends eyes were red, and tears escaped and cascaded down her cheeks as Carla looked at her, completely expressionless. She used her thumb to wipe the tears from her face, taking away a small amount of her makeup with it. They both remained in this position for a few minutes, neither of them uttering a single word, just thinking about each other.

"I'll miss you so much, you know that don't you" Michelle's whisper like voice broke the long silence and she blinked away the remainder of her tears, grasping hold of Carla's hand with hers. Carla breathed a sigh of relief, the last thing she wanted was for Michelle to beg her to stay, it would have made leaving a million times harder for her, but she should have known Michelle wouldn't do that, she wasn't selfish and she would never ask anyone to do something that could harm them for herself.

"Not as much as I'll miss you, but this isn't it for us, you will always be welcome for a break you know that don't you!"

"Where are you.. where are you moving to?" Michelle struggled just saying the words but tried to compose herself as much as possible, she hoped it was somewhere close, maybe Cornwall or Devon, far away enough but still in the same country although she knew really that Carla would be moving as far away as possible.

"LA, somewhere I know I have been happy before, it has always been my escape, but this time it's my forever escape, somewhere I will be safe"

Michelle's heart sank, it was just so far away, she almost wept once more but quickly composed herself, casting her mind back to the last time she saw Carla after she had been to LA, she was the picture of health and happiness. It had allowed her to escape from all of the hurt and problems that Weatherfield held her hostage to and Michelle had to think of seeing that Carla once again, it would kill her to lose her best friend, she barely had many friends, didn't want many, she had never needed them, she had her cousins and then Carla and Maria and that had been just fine for her.

"I can't believe I'm losing my best friend, first of all my husband ditches me for Spain and now you're ditching me for flaming America, someone tell me what I'm doing wrong" She meant the words she spoke but quickly disguised it as a joke, laughing as she finished the sentence, making Carla's heart break further.

"You have never done anything wrong, you hear me, you are the best mate anyone could ask for and you're the best wife too, you deserve much better than both me and Steve, but I'm so glad I can call you me best mate"

Carla wiped away more of Michelle's tears, before wrapping her in a tight embrace; slightly rocking her in attempt to comfort her, as she pulled away Michelle seemed more composed. Asking how long they had left before Carla would be leaving, after informing Michelle that she was leaving in two days time, they both made a pact that they would make the most of the time they had left together and planned to go out that evening, as much as Carla really did not feel like it, and she would admit it was the last thing she felt like doing at this point, she wanted to make the last few days brilliant and full of fun memories for Michelle, the one who had sacrificed so much for her over the years, she had sacrificed her life in another country, her fiancée, and her job all to help her before and the least she could do in return is make the most of the time she had left with her. They both left the factory, and began to head back to Carla's flat, to get glammed up and hit the town just like old times and attempt to forget current affairs and enjoy their life for once, enough was enough they both needed to prove they can be happy.


End file.
